RoK, Vietnamese experts discuss solutions to territorial disputes

The fourth workshop on the East Sea issue organised by the university was attended by researchers from the university’s Institute of Vietnam and the Institute of Maritime Law, the RoK’s Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, and Vietnam’s Hanoi University of Law. 

The event focussed on the international legal issues regarding China’s so-called “cow tongue line” (or “nine-dash line”) in the East Sea; Vietnam’s stance and viewpoints on China’s claim in the waters; and legal matters in the implementation of the law of the sea in the East Sea.

Participants also examined legal and historical documents that testify Vietnam’s sovereignty in the East Sea, and articles by international researchers and scholars that point out how China’s claim is unsubstantiated.

Chu Manh Hung from the Hanoi University of Law said that Korean experts at the workshop agreed that China’s so-called “cow tongue line” was unilateral, and legally, historically and practically unfounded.

It violates international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), to which China is a signatory, he noted, adding that such a move triggered East Sea tensions, threatening regional and international peace and security.

Jeong Gap Yong from the Institute of Maritime Law said since 1947, China had declared the “nine-dash line”, which claimed its sovereignty over most of the East Sea.

That move was illegal and flouted the UNCLOS of 1982, he said, adding that China must therefore immediately back down from its stance and seek satisfactory measures to settle the problem with its neighbours.

Meanwhile, Prof. Kim Hyun Jae said peaceful measures to solve East Sea disputes would set an example for the RoK to settle its dispute with China in the waters off the coast of the RoK and that more workshops on the matter would be held in future.